Training and Reporting Obligations for DC Employers of Tipped Workers Take Effect

 In
0

The “Tipped Wage Workers Fairness Amendment Act of 2018” was enacted by the District of Columbia Council back in 2018, but certain provisions are taking effect only now – including mandatory sexual harassment training and reporting of sexual harassment complaints. D.C. has created a new website setting forth the required obligations, for which employers must certify compliance by December 31, 2022 through an online portal. (A printed copy of the portal form may be found here.) To reiterate, these obligations include:

  • Conduct mandatory sexual harassment training by December 31, 2022, either through a course developed by the Office of Human Rights or from an OHR-certified provider.
    • New employees must receive in person or online training within 90 days after hire, unless they have received such training within the past two years.
    • Current employees must receive in person or online training within two years.
    • Owners and operators must receive in person or online training every two years.
    • Managers must receive in person training (online is not permitted) every two years.
  • Implement a sexual harassment policy that outlines how to report sexual harassment to management and to the OHR. The employer must distribute its sexual harassment policy to all employees and post the policy in conspicuous locations.
    • In the portal, the employer will need to state: how long the policy has been in effect; where it has been published; that all employees received the policy in 2020 and, separately, in 2021; the average number of employees and management in 2020 and in 2021; and the number of employees who received a copy of the policy in 2020 and in 2021. The policy itself must be uploaded and, if the employer keeps a signed list of staff receiving the policy, the list should be uploaded as well.
  • Post a mandatory OHR-prepared notice in a visible location where all employees have access, such as a breakroom.
  • Report annually the sexual harassment complaints to management. The portal requires the employer to report the number of complaints by specific categories of alleged harassers (i.e. owner, operator, manager, co-worker, customer or other) separately for 2020 and for 2021.